THE DELHI PRIMARY EDUCATION ACT, 1960 
_________ 
ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS 

SECTIONS 

1. Short title, extent and commencement. 

2. Definitions. 

3. Schemes for primary education. 

4. Primary education to be compulsory in areas covered by schemes. 

5. Grants-in-aid. 

6. Duty of local authority to prepare lists of children. 

7. Attendance authorities. 

8. Attendance authority to notify parent of his obligation towards his child. 

9. Responsibility of parent to cause his child to attend school. 

10. Reasonable excuse for non-attendance. 

11. Special schools for physically or mentally deficient children. 

12. Special provision for part-time education in certain cases. 

13. Attendance orders. 

14. Children not to be employed so as to prevent them from attending school. 

15. Primary education to be free. 

16. Age of child how to be computed. 

17. Failure of local authority to prepare or implement scheme. 

18. Penalty for contravention of section 13. 

19. Penalty for contravention of section 14. 

20. Courts competent to try offences. 

21. Cognizance of offences. 

22. Certain persons to be public servants. 

23. Protection of action taken in good faith. 

24. Delegation of powers. 

25. Power to make rules. 

26. Repeal of Punjab Primary Education Act. 

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THE DELHI PRIMARY EDUCATION ACT, 1960 

ACT NO. 39 OF 1960 

An Act to provide for free and compulsory Primary education for children in the Union territory 

of Delhi. 

BE it enacted by Parliament in the Eleventh Year of the Republic of India as follows:— 

1. Short title, extent and commencement.—(1) This Act may be called the Delhi Primary Education 

[20th September, 1960.] 

Act, 1960. 

(2) It extends to the Union territory of Delhi. 

(3) It shall come into force on such date1 as the State Government may, by notification in the Official 

Gazette, appoint. 

2. Definitions.—In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,— 

(a) “academic year” means the year beginning on such date as a local authority may specify with 
respect to any specified area or with respect to approved schools generally or any approved school or 
class of approved schools in particular within its jurisdiction; 

(b) “approved school” means any school in any specified area within the jurisdiction of a local 

authority imparting primary education which— 

(i) is under the management of the State Government or the local authority, or 

(ii) being under any other management, is recognised by the local authority as an  approved 

school for the purposes of this Act; 

(c)  “attendance  authority”  means  any  person  appointed  to  be  an  attendance  authority  under 

section 7; 

(d) “to attend an approved school” means to be present for instruction at an approved school on 
so many days in a year and at such time or times on each one of those days as may be fixed by the 
local authority concerned; 

(e)  “child”  means  a  boy  or  girl  within  such  age  group,  not  being  less  than  six  or  more  than 

fourteen, as may be specified in a declaration made under section 4; 

(f)  “local  authority”  means  the  Municipal  Corporation  of  Delhi,  the  New  Delhi  Municipal 

Committee and the Delhi Cantonment Board; 

(g)  “parent”,  in  relation  to  any  child,  includes  a  guardian  and  every  person  who  has  the  actual 

custody of the child; 

(h) “prescribed” means prescribed by rules made under this Act; 

(i) “primary education” means education up to such class or standard, not beyond the eighth class 

or standard, as may be prescribed; 

(j)  “rural  areas”  shall  have  the  meaning  assigned  to  it  in  section  2  of  the  Delhi  Municipal 

Corporation Act, 1957 (66 of 1957); 

(k)  “special  school”  means  any  institution  which  imparts  such  primary  education  as  is  in  the 

opinion of the State Government suitable for children suffering from any physical or mental defect; 

1. 2nd October, 1960, vide notification No. S.O. 2391(E), dated 27th September, 1960, see Gazette of India, Extraordinary, 

Part II, sec. 3(ii). 

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(l) “specified area” means any area within the jurisdiction of a local authority in which primary 

education is declared by that authority to be compulsory under section 4. 

3. Schemes for primary education.—(1) It shall be the duty of every local authority to provide for 
compulsory primary education for children ordinarily resident within its jurisdiction, and for this purpose 
it shall, from time to time, submit to the State Government such proposals in the form of a scheme as it 
may think fit providing for such compulsory primary education in the whole or any part of the area within 
its jurisdiction for children of such ages and up to such class or standard as it may decide. 

(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1), the State Government may, at any time, 
call upon a local authority to submit to it within such time as may be specified a scheme for compulsory 
primary  education  in  such  area  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  local  authority  for  children  ordinarily 
resident therein, and of such ages and up to such class or standard, as the State Government may specify. 

(3) The scheme submitted under sub-section (1) or sub-section (2) shall be in such form as the State 

Government may specify and shall contain the following particulars,— 

(a) the area in which primary education shall be compulsory; 

(b) the approximate number of children to whom the scheme will apply, classified according to 

age and mother-tongue; 

(c)  a  list  of  existing  approved  schools  and  the  schools,  if  any,  proposed  to  be  opened  for  the 

purpose, classified by languages in which instruction is given or is proposed to be given; 

(d) the number of teachers already employed and the additional staff proposed to be recruited; 

(e) the recurring and non-recurring cost of the scheme; and 

(f) such other particulars as may be prescribed. 

(4) The State Government may, after making such inquiry as it may consider necessary, sanction with 
or without modifications the scheme submitted by the local authority under sub-section (1) or sub-section 
(2). 

 4. Primary education to be compulsory in areas covered by schemes.—(1) On receipt of sanction 
under  sub-section  (4)  of  section  3,  the  local  authority  shall  give  effect  to  the  scheme  so  sanctioned  by 
means  of  a  declaration  that  with  effect from  the  first  day  of  the  next academic  year  primary  education 
shall be compulsory in any area specified in the declaration for children ordinarily resident in that area 
and within such age group and up to such class or standard as may be specified in the declaration. 

(2) Every declaration under sub-section (1) shall— 

(a)  be  published  in  the  Official  Gazette  and  in  such  other  manner  as  the  local  authority  may 

decide; 

(b) be so made as to ensure that there is an interval of not less than one hundred and twenty days 

between the date of the publication of the declaration and the first day of the next academic year. 

5.  Grants-in-aid.—The  State  Government  shall,  in  respect  of  every  scheme  sanctioned  under              

sub-section (4) of section 3 or prepared under sub-section (1) of section 17, bear such part of the recurring 
and non-recurring cost of the scheme as it may from time to time determine. 

6. Duty of local authority to prepare lists of children.—It shall be the duty of the local authority to 
cause to be prepared as early as possible after the publication of a declaration under section 4, and in such 
manner as may be prescribed, a list of children in any specified area; and the local authority shall cause 
the list to be revised at such intervals as may be prescribed. 

 7. Attendance authorities.—(1) The local authority may appoint as many persons as it thinks fit to 
be  attendance  authorities  for  the  purposes  of  this  Act,  and  may  also  appoint  as  many  persons  as  it 
considers necessary to assist the attendance authorities in the discharge of their duties. 

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(2) In the exercise of any of the powers conferred by or under this Act, the attendance authority or 
any person appointed to assist the attendance authority may put such questions to any parent or require 
any  parent  to  furnish  such  information,  about  his  child  as  it  or  he  considers  necessary,  and  every  such 
parent shall be bound to answer such questions or to furnish such information, as the case may be, to the 
best of his knowledge or belief. 

 8. Attendance authority to notify parent of his obligation towards his child.—It shall be the duty 
of  the  attendance  authority  to  notify  the  parent  of  every  child  to  whom  the  declaration  under section 4 
applies that he is under an obligation to cause the child to attend an approved school with effect from the 
beginning of the next academic year. 

 9. Responsibility of parent to cause his child to attend school.—It shall be the duty of the parent 
of every child to cause the child to attend an approved school unless there be a reasonable excuse for his 
non-attendance within the meaning of section 10. 

10.  Reasonable  excuse  for  non-attendance.—For  the  purposes  of  this  Act,  any  of  the  following 
circumstances shall be deemed to be a reasonable excuse for the non-attendance of a child at an approved 
school,— 

(a) that there is no approved school within the prescribed distance from his residence; 

(b)  that  the  child  is  receiving  instruction  in  some  other  manner  which  is  declared  to  be 

satisfactory by the State Government or by an officer authorised by it in this behalf; 

(c) that the child has already completed primary education up to the class or standard specified in 

the declaration under section 4; 

(d) that the child suffers from a physical or mental defect which prevents him from attendance; 

(e)  that  there  is  any  other  compelling  circumstance  which  prevents  the  child  from  attending 

school, provided the same is certified as such by the attendance authority; 

(f) such other circumstance as may be prescribed. 

11. Special schools for physically or mentally deficient children.—If there is in existence a special 
school within the prescribed distance from the residence of a child who is suffering from a physical or 
mental defect, the attendance authority may, if it is satisfied that the child is not receiving any instruction 
in some other manner considered by it to be satisfactory, by order require the child to attend the special 
school; and it shall be the duty of the parent of such child to cause the child to attend the special school 
unless there be a reasonable excuse for the non-attendance of the child within the meaning of clause (e) of 
section 10. 

12. Special provision for part-time education in certain cases.—(1) If the attendance authority is 
satisfied  that  a  child,  due  to  economic  or  other  circumstances  connected  with  the  family  to  which  the 
child belongs, is unable to attend an approved school in the manner required by or under this Act, it may, 
by order and subject to such conditions, if any, as it may think fit to impose, permit the child to attend any 
approved  school  established  as  a  part-time  institution  or  in  which  primary  education  is  imparted  on  a  
part-time basis. 

(2) Any parent who causes a child in respect of whom an order under sub-section (1) has been made 
to attend an approved school in the manner specified in the order shall be deemed to have complied with 
the provisions of this Act. 

13. Attendance orders.—(1) Whenever the attendance authority has reason to believe that the parent 
of a child has failed to cause the child to attend an approved school and that there is no reasonable excuse 
for  the  non-attendance  of  the  child  within  the  meaning  of  section  10,  it  shall  hold  an  inquiry  in  the 
prescribed manner. 

(2) If as a result of the inquiry the attendance authority is satisfied that the child is liable to attend an 
approved school under this Act and that there is no reasonable excuse for his non-attendance within the 
meaning  of  section  10,  it  shall  pass  an  attendance  order  in  the  prescribed  form  directing  the  parent  to 
cause the child to attend the-approved school with effect from the date specified in the order. 

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(3) An attendance order passed against a parent in respect of his child under this section shall, subject 
to the provisions of sub-section (6), remain in force for so long as this Act continues to apply to the child. 

(4)  If  any  parent  against  whom  an  attendance  order  has  been  passed  in  respect  of  his  child  under             

sub-section  (2)  transfers  the  custody  of  the  child  to  another  person  during  the  period  in  which  the 
attendance order is in force, such parent shall be bound to immediately inform the attendance authority in 
writing of such transfer. 

(5)  Where  an  attendance  order  has  been  passed  against  a  parent  in  respect  of  his  child  under  this 
section, such order shall have effect in relation to every other person to whom the custody of the child 
may be transferred during the period in which the attendance order is in force as it has effect in relation to 
the person against whom it is passed. 

(6) A parent may at any time apply to the attendance authority for cancellation of an attendance order 

on the ground— 

(i) that he is no longer the parent in respect of the child; or 

(ii) that circumstances have arisen which provide a reasonable excuse for non-attendance; 

and thereupon the attendance authority may, after holding an inquiry in the prescribed manner, cancel or 
modify the attendance order. 

14. Children not to be employed so as to prevent them from attending school.—No person shall 

employ a child in a manner which shall prevent the child from attending an approved school. 

15. Primary education to be free.—(1) No fee shall be levied in respect of any child for attending an 

approved school which is under the management of the State Government or a local authority. 

(2) Where, in respect of any child an attendance order has been passed under section 13 and the only 
school which he can attend is an approved school under private management falling within sub-clause (ii) 
of clause (b) of section 2, the local authority shall take such steps as it may think fit for the purpose of 
ensuring that the primary education which the child is to receive is free. 

16.  Age  of  child  how  to  be  computed.—The  age  of  a  child  for  the  purposes  of  this  Act  shall  be 

computed in terms of years completed by the child on or before the first day of the academic year: 

Provided that where the birthday of a child falls on a day not later than sixty days from the first day of 
the  academic  year,  the  birthday  shall  be  deemed  to  fall  on  the  first  day  of  the  academic  year  for  the 
purpose of computing the age of the child. 

17. Failure of local authority to prepare or implement scheme.—(1) If any local authority when 
called upon to submit a scheme under sub-section (2) of section 3 fails so to do, or, after a scheme has 
been  sanctioned  under  sub-section  (4)  of  section  3  fails  to  give  effect  to  a  scheme  as  so  sanctioned, 
whether  wholly  or  in  part,  the  State  Government  may,  after  making  such  inquiry  as  it  may  consider 
necessary  and  after  giving  an  opportunity  to  the  local  authority  to  be  heard  in  the  matter,  appoint  any 
person to prepare the scheme or to give effect to it, as the case may be, and may direct that such part of 
the expenses as that Government may determine shall be defrayed out of the funds belonging to the local 
authority. 

(2) Where any such direction as is referred to in sub-section (1) is issued, any person who has for the 
time being the custody of any moneys on behalf of the local authority, either as a banker or in any other 
capacity, shall, notwithstanding anything contained in any law for the time being in force, be bound to 
comply with such direction. 

18. Penalty for contravention of section 13.—(1) If any parent fails to comply with an attendance 
order passed under section 13. he shall be punishable with fine not exceeding two rupees, and, in the case 
of a continuing contravention, with an additional fine not exceeding fifty naye paise for every day during 
which such contravention continues after conviction for the first of such contraventions: 

Provided that the amount of fine payable by any one person in respect of any child in any one year 

shall not exceed fifty rupees. 

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(2) If any person fails to furnish any information as required by sub-section (4) of section 13, he shall 

be punishable with fine which may extend to twenty-five rupees. 

 19.  Penalty  for  contravention  of  section  14.—If  any  person  contravenes  the  provisions  of              

section 14, he shall be punishable with fine which may extend to twenty-five rupees and, in the case of a 
continuing  contravention,  with  an  additional  fine  not  exceeding  one  rupee  for  every  day  during  which 
such contravention continues after conviction for the first of such contraventions. 

20. Courts competent to try offences.—(1) The courts competent to try offences under this Act shall 

be the following,— 

(a) in rural areas to which the Delhi Panchayat Raj Act, 1954 (Delhi Act III of 1955) extends, the 
Panchayati  Adalat,  constituted  under  section  50  of  that  Act,  within  whose  jurisdiction  the  person 
committing the offence resides; 

(b) in other areas, the court of a magistrate having jurisdiction. 

(2) Any offence triable by the Panchayati Adalat shall be tried in the manner provided for the trial of 
criminal cases by the Delhi Panchayat Raj Act, 1954 (Delhi Act III of 1955), and any offence triable by a 
magistrate shall be tried in a summary way. 

21. Cognizance of offences.—No court shall take cognizance of an offence under this Act except on 
the  complaint  of  an  attendance  authority  or  any  other  person  authorised  in  this  behalf  by  the  local 
authority by general or special order. 

22.  Certain  persons  to  be  public  servants.—The  attendance  authority,  every  person  appointed  to 
assist  the  attendance  authority  under  sub-section  (1)  of  section  7  and  every  person  authorised  to  make 
complaints under section 21 shall be deemed to be public servants within the meaning of section 21 of the 
Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860). 

 23. Protection of action taken in good faith.—No suit, prosecution or other legal proceeding shall 
lie against the Government or any authority or person in respect of anything which is in good faith done 
or intended to be done under this Act. 

 24. Delegation of powers.—(1) The State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette 
and  subject  to  such  conditions,  if  any,  as  may  be  specified  in  the  notification,  authorise  any  officer  or 
authority subordinate to it to exercise all or any of the powers conferred on the State Government by or 
under this Act. 

(2)  A  local  authority  may,  by  general  or  special  order  and  with  the  previous  approval  of  the  State 
Government,  authorise  any  officer  or  authority  subordinate  to  it  to  exercise  all  or  any  of  the  powers 
conferred on a local authority by or under this Act. 

25. Power to make rules.—(1) The State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette 

and subject to the condition of previous publication, make rules to carry out the purposes of this Act. 

(2)  In  particular,  and  without  prejudice  to  the  generality  of  the  foregoing  power,  such  rules  may 

provide for all or any of the following matters, namely:— 

(a) the class or standard education up to which shall be considered as primary education; 

(b) the particulars to be contained in any scheme submitted under this Act, including particulars 
relating to the provision made or to be made in any area for the establishment of special schools or of 
schools imparting primary education on a  part-time basis or for the supply of food or refreshments, 
books, writing materials, uniforms or other necessary amenities, to children while attending school; 

(c) the manner in which lists of children may be prepared in any specified area under section 6, 
the intervals at which the lists shall be kept revised and persons with whose assistance such lists shall 
be prepared; 

(d) the functions to be performed, and the manner in which such functions may be performed, by 

attendance authorities; 

(e) the distance beyond which a child may not be compelled to attend an approved school; 

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(f) the circumstances which may be regarded as reasonable excuses for the non-attendance of a 

child within the meaning of section 10; 

(g) the manner in which any inquiry under this Act may be held; 

(h) the form in which an attendance order under this Act may be passed; 

(i)  the  registers,  statements  and  other  information  to  be  maintained  or  furnished  by  approved 

schools for the purposes of this Act; 

(j) any other matter which has to be, or may be, prescribed under this Act. 

(3) Every rule made under this section shall be laid as soon as may be after it is made before each 
House of Parliament while it is in session for a total period of thirty days which may be comprised in one 
session or in two successive sessions, and if, before the expiry of the session in which it is so laid or the 
session immediately following, both Houses agree in making any modification in the rule or both Houses 
agree that the rule should not be made, the rule shall thereafter have effect only in such modified form or 
be of no effect, as the case may be; so, however, that any such modification or annulment shall be without 
prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under that rule. 

26. Repeal of Punjab Primary Education Act.—On the date on which primary education becomes 
compulsory in any specified area, the Punjab Primary Education Act, 1940 (Punjab Act XVIII of 1940) as 
in force in the Union territory of Delhi shall stand repealed in such area. 

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